


Of Pink Freckles and Green Moles

by BleuSarcelle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Character Death, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Half-Siblings, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-09-20 19:22:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17028534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleuSarcelle/pseuds/BleuSarcelle
Summary: Lance now can see the boy’s face and he can only stare at the pretty color in the boy’s eyes before he’s suddenly being squished by two hands.“Papa!” the boy shouts happily back at the adult that makes his way other them hurriedly. The boy hardly notices, still too fixed on squeezing Lance’s cheeks for a second longer before he giggles. “Papa, ugly!”“Keith, no! Oh my god -”“Ugly,” the boy repeats obliviously, patting Lance’s cheeks with a proud gleam in his eyes. “Ooh-gly!”Lance doesn't know what that word means but for some reason, it makes him cry harder.[Or the one where Keith and Lance meet when they are two and three years old respectively and spend their entire childhood going through charity contests. Lance says they are rivals, Keith only hears 'best friends'.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tophoftheline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tophoftheline/gifts).



> Helloooooooooooooo! 
> 
> First off, I wanna thank @tophoftheline for giving me the opportunity to write this amazing story!! I really can't thank them enough.
> 
> So here we are, ready to share this story with you all and hopefully you enjoy it as much as we did <3
> 
> Disclaimer: Voltron and its characters don't belong to me.

It starts by Lance stealing his sister's tiara.

“ _ Mama! _ ”

For the fifth’s time that week.

Lance barely takes notice of the angered screams echoing through the house, though. He’s too busy nibbling on one of the edges on the plastic tiara as he flops himself on his butt in the middle of the playroom.

“Lance,” he hears someone sighing behind him, making him turn around clumsily. His older brother greets him with a tired look but the amused twitch on his lips tattle-tales on him. “Really, baby bro? Again?”

Lance offers him a toothy smile.

“Pretty rock,” the toddler says as an explanation, a weak but fair excuse for his actions before he goes back to his mission to get the pretty blue rock in the middle of the tiara.

“That’s not even a rock,” Marco mumbles with a snicker before he calls for his mom. “Mama, Lance is eating plastic again.”

_ “Marco, quitaselo, por Dios! _ ”

“Ha, no way, he bit me last time!”

Lance ignores the exchange, not even taking notice of the extra pair of footsteps hurrying to his side until it’s too late and his treasure is taken from his small chubby hands.

“Ah!” he cries out in distress before he looks up at meets his mom’s eyes. “Mama?”

“Ah, ah, young man, we talked about this,” his mama says firmly, shaking her finger at him when he tries to reach for the tiara in her hand. “This is your sister’s, sunshine.”

“Mine, mama,” Lance whines, nose scrunching as it always does when he’s about to throw a tantrum. His mama doesn’t even let him get started.

“Lance,” his mama says in warning, narrowing her eyes as she holds his stare. The toddlers hold on for three full seconds before he whimpers and give it up.

“Meanie,” he mumbles tearfully, sniffling as he crosses his chubby arms. He pouts angrily when he hears his mama call for him, first stern and then gentler.

“Hey you,” she whispers quietly and Lance only turns when he feels a warm hand running through his messy hair. He sniffles as he turns to look at her through his tears.

“Your sister is hurt because you stole her tiara,” his mama says slowly, letting him process the words at his own time before she continues. “You don’t want Vero to be sad, right?”

“Nu,” Lance sniffles, making a small sound when his mama wipes the few tears that had rolled down his cheek. “But  _ pretty _ .”

“I know, sweetheart,” his mama comfort with a gentle smile, “but it’s not right to take something without permission, right?”

“Right,” Lance agrees with a small pout while puffing his cheeks. His mama rolls her eyes fondly before he pokes one of his cheeks that makes him laugh.

“That’s my boy,” his mama praises him kindly. She looks up just in time as the door of the playroom opens once again and a pair steps inside.

Lance follows her gaze, clapping excitedly when he sees his father. “Ah, papa!”

“Hey, champ,” his papa greets him warmly before addressing his wife. “I have an angry tiny president who requests an audience, cielo.”

Lance watches as his mama sighs and waves her hands, silently telling his sister to step forward.

Veronica does so while stomping her feet on the ground, hands turned into fists as she walks. She throws a dirty glare at him when she walks past him and Lance pouts in offense.

“Hey, no glaring,” their mama chimes in firmly, sending them both a look.

“Hm,” the seven-years-old clicks her tongue, crossing her arms over her chest angrily. Their mama sighs tiredly before she holds out the plastic tiara.

“Corazón, maybe you should let him play with it for a few hours,” she says carefully as she passes the tiara to her daughter. “You know how much he likes it.” 

“Then he should get his own!” Veronica shouts frustrated, red-cheeked as she takes the tiara and shoots an angry glare towards the toddler.

“Calmate,” his papa mumbles sternly, shooting her a warning stare. The seven-years-old huffs as she crosses her arms stubbornly but settles down under her father’s warning.

Lance purses his lips, his lip trembling, uneasy, as his stomach twists weird by his sister’s glare. He doesn’t want Vero to be mad at him.

He tries to remember the word, that word that Marco would always say whenever he breaks something, or when his mama would step on his papa’s flowers by accident. 

“Vero,” he whimpers, rubbing his hands clumsily against his eyes as a few tears fall from them. “Sorry.”

Veronica blinks, her mouth opening and closing for a few times before she bites her lower lip tightly. Her eyes grow wide and turn a little misty and Lance whines when he’s suddenly being hugged.

“Don’t cry,” Vero whimpers, kissing his head as she sniffles. “I’m sorry.”

“There, we all apologized!” their papa shouts gleefully behind them, clapping his hands proudly. “Now, let’s get moving, family; abuelita is waiting for us!”

Lance blinks bemused as his sister lets him go, following their parents out of the room while excitedly talking about a new card game 

“Tita?” Lance asks him, tilting his head to the side.

Marco nods with a smile. “Yeah, we’re going to see abuelita.”

“Yey, tita!” Lance shouts happily, clapping his hands. His abuela had the prettiest seashells he has ever seen in his  _ life _ . He wonders if he will be able to eat one this time.

“Come on, little dude,” Marco laughs while picking him up from the floor. “You can eat Luis’s lightsaber on our way to abuela’s.”

Lance beams even brighter.

 

 

* * *

 

“I have found the solution! Family, please hold the applause!”

Lance looks up from his high chair, blinking curiously as he continues to sip from his sippy cup cheerfully. His papa stands on the kitchen’s entrance, a big wide grin on his face as he shakes something in his hand.

His papa’s grin falls when none of his family members acknowledges him. “Wow, way to kill my vibe, everyone.”

Lance giggles at him as he puts his sippy cup down, picking up instead the pieces of cereal from his bowl. His papa grins back at him and leans down to drop a kiss on his head.

“Solution to what, exactly, mi rey?” his mama asks from somewhere behind him. Lance hums to himself distracted but pouts when he sees his papa stealing some of his cereal.

“Ah!” He whines in protest as he tries to push his papa’s hands away from his bowl. He blinks confused, though, when his papa chuckles warmly at him instead before ruffling his hair.

“The tiara issue,” his papa says, chewing on the stolen cereal pieces. “Guess what’s coming in a few weeks?”

Veronica gasps from her chair on the table. She ignores the way both of her older brothers shout in panic when her glass of milk almost falls from her abrupt moves. “Arus Contest?”

Their papa nods. “Yes! It’s coming back! I talked with Mr. Smythe from down the street and he told me they were planning to make another contest this year since last year was a big success.”

“Oh, that’s great! The money they raised really helped the orphanage near downtown,” his mama says kindly, a small smile on her face. “I’m really happy they decided to make the contest again.”

Lance hums, blatantly ignoring the conversation happening above his head as he focuses on moving his bowl away from his papa’s reach. He shouts in annoyance when his papa’s hand still manages to grab more cereal.

How did he do that? Lance moved it all the way to his right side! That’s so far! 

Curse his papa’s superpowers.

“That’s not all,” Lance hears his papa say which makes him look up in betrayal as the adult throws some more cereal to his mouth and chews. “This year, to raise more than last time, they are widening their categories -”

“Oh, oh, can I participate? Is the space section still open? I have practiced my constellations and Mr. Holt showed me some new ones last time I played with Matt -”

“Oh my  _ god _ , Vero, breathe,” Marco says from her right side, rolling his eyes in mild annoyance.

Luis looks up from his Gameboy, looking around the kitchen confused. “What are we talking about?”

“Yes, Vero, the space section is going to be a thing this year,” their papa answers as he nods. “Marco, be nice to your sister. Luis, no Gameboy at the table.”

“Can we do teams? Is that allowed? How many people on a team? I want Matt on mine - Oh! I also want Nyma! And Professor Slav and Mr. Sven! Is that allowed?”

“I  _ was  _ nice!”

“But Pikachu - !”

Lance scowls as the voices of his siblings continue to echo around the kitchen. He doesn’t care, honestly, he’s still to fixed on his own issue at hand.

“ _ Papa _ ,” Lance calls, whining when his papa’s hand doesn’t budge from his bowl. His papa looks down at him with a smile.

“Yes, you! Exactly, champ! You’re going to participate and get your own crown with this new category.”

Lance blinks in confusion at the words before he slams his hands down on his tiny table and kicks his legs as he shouts. “ _ Papa! _ ”

Luckily, his mama comes to the rescue. “No, cielo, he wants you to get your own cereal.”

His papa blinks bemused before he looks down and smiles sheepishly. “Oh, shoot. Sorry, buddy.”

“My cereal.” Lance pouts at him and brings the plastic bowl closer to his chest.

“Is that a yes for him to join the contest?”

 

* * *

 

 

 

Lance loves their park; it’s big, green and the sand near the playground it's not as good as his home beach but it comes close.

Well, as close as he can get to eat it before he’s being picked up and pulled away from the playground.

“Mama, Lance’s trying to eat sand,” Marco sighs as he walks and looks down at his little brother in annoyance. “ _ Again _ .”

Lance shrugs him off, putting his hands on his older brother’s face as he whines. “Down!” he shouts as he pushes himself from his brother’s grip with no success.

“Ugh, Lance -”

“Down!”

“Alright, alright, break it up,” their mama says walking towards the pair, shaking her head before she takes her youngest son from her oldest. “Marco, please go with your sister and sign her up for her contest.”

“Ugh, why me?” The teen whines, pursing his lips when his mother throws him a look.

“Because I’m asking you,” she says slowly, her stern look slowly shifting until she’s grinning playfully at her son. “Go on, you might even see Daniela. I heard from Mrs. Holt she was volunteering this year -”

“Come on, Vero! I’m going to sign you up!”

“Ay! Marco! Marco, put me down! Mama!”

Lance giggles on his mama’s arms, both of his hands on his cheeks. “Silly Marco.”

“Silly Marco indeed, sunshine.” His mama laughs quietly, dropping a kiss on his temple. “Come on, let’s get you sign up for your own adventure.”

“While you two do that,” Lance hears his papa say behind them. He turns on his mama’s grip to look at the adult and waves at him with a toothy smile that earns him a smile. “Yes, hi, champ. Like I was saying, while you two do that, I’m going to sign Luis up on his contest.”

The nine years-old next to him bounces on his feet at the words. “Can we go now? The first match is about to start, papa!”

“No, it’s not, buddy. We still have half - Ow! Luis, don’t pull! Luis! Alright, I’m coming!”

“We will be right there for the first match after I sign Lance up!” His mama shouts towards their retreating figures. She laughs when his papa throws a thumbs up at her. “Text me the location, Hector!”

“Okay, okay!”

Lance blows a raspberry as a goodbye towards his papa but pouts when the adult turns around before he can even see it.

“Aw,” he mumbles sadly before he’s squealing in delight when his mama blows a raspberry on his cheek. “Mama!”

His mama coos at him before she nods. “Okay, come on, your group is near the duck lake. Wanna see the ducklings, sunshine?”

Lance claps excitedly. “Dupplings!”

His mama laughs at his answer as she begins to walk again and Lance only beams brighter. They walk through the park’s path while humming.

Well, his mama was humming, he was trying to fill in the words to the melody with random words he could remember. His mama seemed to approved since she kept on laughing and kissing his head fondly.

She stops only once they arrive to a small stand near the lake, a dark skinned woman with white hair greeting them with a smile.

Lance likes her because she called him precious and she let him play with her pretty earrings. Mama once told him that people with pretty jewelry were royals. Lance calls her Queen.

“ - and that would be all, Mrs. McClain,” he hears Queen say, catching his attention once again. “Lance here is officially inside the contest and we thank you greatly for supporting the event.”

“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Altea,” his mama says with a quiet laugh before she waves goodbye, letting him wave on his own at Queen before she picks him up and walks towards the lake.

“Let’s go see the ducks before going to your brother’s match, yeah?” his mama suggests and Lance nods strongly in agreement.

That’s where he catches sight of his friend and Lance’s mood increases ten folds.

“Hunk!” he shouts, blatantly ignoring his mama’s gasp and not even caring that he almost falls from her grip at his sudden moves.

“Lance,” she scolds gently but lets it go with a small sigh. She makes her way towards Lance’s friend, greeting Hunk’s mama with a happy smile before putting her son down when Lance wouldn’t stop fidgeting.

“Lance!” Hunk shouts back at him with equal excitement. Lance giggles before he throws himself at his friend, hugging him tight and squeezing when Hunk giggles with him.

He hears both their mamas laugh warmly at their interaction but Lance pays them no mind. He barely catches a few words about the contest before he’s taken away by Hunk to look at the new eggs Mrs. Quack had laid earlier in the season.

“Gotta be quiet,” the three years-old tells him softly, putting his finger in the middle of his lips. “They sleeping.”

Lance coos and gasps in awe, watching as the older duck lays comfortably on top of her eggs. He had panicked the first time he saw it when he was a baby, tears quickly feeling his eyes thinking the eggs had been crushed but Hunk had reassured him they were okay, just warm and cozy with their mother.

“They’re cooking!” Hunk had said while hugging him in comfort back then. “Like a pie, but with life instead.”

They stare in silence at Mrs. Quack, cooing and gasping in awe every time the duck would quack at most. But their fun is quickly over when their mama’s come by and pick them up once again.

“We will see you both later after the photoshoot, then!” Hunk’s mama says with a smile, waving gently with Hunk in her arms.

Lance looks with curiosity as his mama waves back. “We will! Good luck!”

He’s not sure what was all that about, but he knows he’s going to see Hunk again. Lance can’t really complain.

“Come on, sunshine, let’s go see your brother’s match before we get you ready.” His mama says then, dropping a sloppy kiss on his cheek which he returns with ten times more saliva.

His mama doesn't complain.

 

 

* * *

 

His siblings call him a spoiled brat.

“Look at the beautiful smile!”

And  _ boy _ , does he owns the title.

He’s not even sure what exactly are they doing but he knows that his mama is throwing him praise at every smile he gives her and he gets a cookie every few minutes.

Lance’s happy.

He’s also happy because he got to dress up pretty. His mama helped him with it; some shorts that allow him to kick his feet freely with his favorite blue short shirt he once wore in his abuelo’s birthday and Marco’s cool sunglasses. 

He even got away with not wearing his sandals!

“Hey, mouth out of foot,” his papa says then, pushing away his weak try of shoving his naked foot on his mouth. Ah, ‘no sandals’ advantage is no fun then.

Lance pouts at the reprimand but doesn’t dwell on it much, not when his papa ruffles his hair with affection. “Papa!”

“Hector,  _ su cabello _ .” His mama sighs exasperatedly in front of him, putting down her camera to glare at her husband. The man raises his hands in mock surrender.

“Ah, perdon,” his papa chuckles, taking a step back from the ‘stage’. “I will go get us some lunch since I’m not  _ useful here _ .”

Lance watches his mama laugh with a fond smile. “Check on Luis on your way back? His prize announcement should be in half an hour.”

His papa nods contently. “No problem; want some fries and nuggets?”

“You know the way to our hearts, amor.” 

Lance smiles happily as he watches both of his parents laugh, gazing lovingly at each other before they turn and do their own thing. He likes his parents, they’re funny.

His mama focuses on him once again, leaning forward to push his hair out of his face. “Okay, sunshine, ready for a few more photos?”

Lance beams at her and the flash goes off.

He’s showered with his mama’s praise, giggling and squealing every time his mama makes him do something else. He got to lay on the grass and watch the marshmallows in the sky, play with some of the grass without getting his clothes dirty and even chased some of the butterflies.

But then, his mama surprises him with something new.

“Do you wanna hold the ladybug, sunshine?” His mama asks him softly, holding out her open hand towards him. Lance gasps in awe at the small bug in the middle of her palm, its red and black skin making him stare in awe.

“Yes, please!” he says excitedly. 

Lance barely notices the photos his mama takes his way, he’s too entranced with the small bug in his hand and the tickles he feels whenever it moves.

“He’s Tummy,” Lance whispers then, beaming brightly at his new friend. He felt it was an appropriate name since he also feels tickles in his tummy whenever he’s happy.

And Tummy makes him happy.

“Oof!” 

Until Tummy is taken away from him abruptly.

Lance whines in confusion at the sudden attack he gets from the side. He frowns and looks to his right to see his attacker only to be greeted with black hair and light skin.

But Lance doesn’t care about that, he cares that he can no longer see Tummy in his hand and the realization makes him tear up within a second.

“Tummy,” he whimpers sadly, scrunching his nose in distress as he stares at his now empty hand in front of his face. He whines when the other toddler hugging him from the side tightens his grip. “Ah!”

“Oh my god, Keith!” Lance hears someone call from somewhere near them, he doesn't know for sure. But the boy hugging him looks up at the calling, so Lance guesses that’s his name.

Lance now can see the boy’s face and he can only stare at the pretty color in the boy’s eyes before he’s suddenly being squished by two hands.

“Papa!” the boy shouts happily back at the adult that makes his way other them hurriedly. The boy hardly notices, still too fixed on squeezing Lance’s cheeks for a second longer before he giggles. “Papa, ugly!”

“Keith, no! Oh my god -”

“Ugly,” the boy repeats obliviously, patting Lance’s cheeks with a proud gleam in his eyes. “Ooh-gly!”

Lance doesn't know what that word  _ means  _ but for some reason, it makes him cry  _ harder _ .

The other toddler pauses on his actions, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion and concern at the sight of tears falling from Lance’s pretty blue eyes.

“No, no?” he mumbles quietly, whimpering when Lance squirms out of his grip and pushes him away with a whine. “No! Ugly’s okay?”

Lance ignores him. Instead, he turns and presses himself on his mama’s chest as he cries in distress, his sobs slowing down quickly to sniffles as his mama runs her hand on his back as comfort.

He catches from the corner of his eye as the strange boy takes a step back, starting to look unsure and a little scared but then he stops.

Lance blinks confused when he sees his mama’s free hand running small soothing circles on the other boy’s back just like she was doing for him.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Lance hears his mama say gently and he wonders if she’s still only talking to him. “It’s alright, sweetheart.”

Lance makes a sound of confusion at the developing event but he doesn’t have time to complain about when the mean boy is taken away.

“I am so sorry,” someone says behind Lance and it’s enough to catch his curiosity and turn around. He sees another adult, a man with a jacket wrapped around his waist and holding the boy with the strange eyes close to him. “Is your little one okay? Keith can be a little too strong when he finds something or someone he likes -”

Lance huffs, tuning the rest of the words out. Instead, he focuses on glaring at the boy who keeps staring at him with wide eyes.

Lance doesn’t even squirm when his mama picks him up properly, still facing father and son. No, it actually works on his favor since now he can glare at the boy by being on the same level.

“Meanie,” Lance mumbles as he sticks out his tongue, making sure his mama was distracted to notice. The boy frowns at him but more out of confusion than offense.

“Ugly?” he whispers softly but Lance huffs and looks away, hugging closer and hiding his face on his mama’s neck.

“Please, Mr. Kogane, it’s alright,” his mama says kindly with a small laugh. “I have been through four toddlers by now; I know Keith’s a sweetheart and meant well.”

Someone sighs in relief behind Lance’s back and he can only guess it was the other man chatting with his mama. “Thank you for understanding, Mrs. McClain. Keith has been having a hard time settling in since we moved here. I hope this doesn’t affect the boys' chances of them becoming friends?”

Lance’s eyes widen in bewilderment when he hears his mama saying that it wouldn’t, that she would even organize a playdate for them to meet properly.

Wow. The deepest betrayal in the world done by his own mama.

Lance can’t even voice his complaints before they’re suddenly walking away. He can only stare as he meets the other boy’s eyes behind her mama’s shoulder, the boy doing the same with his papa.

Lance pouts at him, narrowing his eyes before he sticks his tongue out at the boy. He gasps and whines in offense when the boy pouts and sticks his own tongue back at him.

In the end, Lance can’t even be happy about his new crown because Keith also got a silver one which had pretty red and black diamonds just like Tummy used to have.

Lance will get it next year.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance narrows his eyes as he scans the crowd around him. He ends up using his hands as binoculars since Tony hid his own last week from him.

Whatever. Lance doesn't need them.

He sees a lot of people, which is not that unusual for the park but it’s still a big change. His eyes fall on the red tent near the lake, just a few feet from where he is.

Lance sees his mama there, clipboard in her hand as she leans down to coo at the four-years-old in Mrs. Holt’s arms. Lance notices that Pidge doesn’t look that happy to be here, nose red and eyes shining with tears, but she seems to calm down once her mom gives her Mr. Fuzzy.

Lance understands. It’s hard to stay sad with Mr. Fuzzy; his round fluffy body tickles you whenever you hug him and the mustache in his face is funny.

He moves on.

Lance sees his brother on the other side of the lake, playing with his friends from the soccer team and if he changes his binoculars’ power (Read: squints with his eyes) he can see Veronica already in her own group of big kids near a yellow tent with their papa close behind.

He doesn’t see Tony, though. His older brother is probably lost somewhere; maybe he fell into a hole like Alice from the book Allura read to him on Monday.

That would be cool; maybe that way Lance can finally use his binoculars.

Lance hums as he turns his head, focusing on the other side of the park. He scans every single head he manages to find and takes in every feature in them; some are brown, others are black, some of them are blond and there was one that was bright pink.

Some look like the mop his papa uses to clean the kitchen and others like the broom his mama uses to scare away the raccoons. (She still doesn’t know Lance keeps leaving some garlic knots for them some nights outside the garage.)

Other heads don't even have hair, though. Like, Mrs. Reyner’s head but hers is always pretty because she uses a scarf around her head like an odd crown and they are always different and bright and  _ colorful _ .

Lance smiles when he catches her wearing a bright green one today. It looks  _ really  _ pretty.

He goes back to his mission, though, because he knows he’s running out of time. Lance makes a quick list of the heads he has seen today and scolds when he realizes there’s no  _ mullet _ .

Where is  _ he _ , then?

“Lance,” he hears Hunk whining below him. Lance blinks, putting his hands down from his face to catch his friend’s eyes.

The seven-years-old is struggling to look at him from where he stands, shaking a little as he tries to keep his balance with Lance sitting on his shoulders. “You almost done? You’re  _ heavy _ .”

Lance pouts. “Hunk, no, I can’t find him,” he explains, going back to puts his hands over his eyes like circles, now looking towards the park’s entrance. “I gotta find him!”

“But  _ why _ ?” Hunk complains.

“I don’t know, Ben did it with Kevin in Ben 10 because they’re rivals!” Lance says, putting his hands back down to look at Hunk. “So I’m doing it with Keith!”

Hunk whines again but Lance tunes him out.

He doesn’t see any hair that may look like Keith’s. His Uncle Ramon had told him that Keith’s hair was like a mullet, one time when he joined them in their play date and that it would be so easy to find mullets in crowds.

His uncle was a  _ liar _ .

“Lance, what are you  _ doing _ ?”

The six-years-old makes a sound of surprise when suddenly two hands pull him off his best friend’s shoulders and turn him around. Tony stares right back at him, waiting for an answer.

“I’m looking for a mullet,” Lance defends himself, trying to cross his arms over his chest but giving it up quickly when he finds out he can't. He resigned himself to glare at his brother.

“ _ Lance _ ,” the nineteen-years-old sighs, clicking his tongue at his little brother as he holds him at an arms length. “Dude, you were crushing poor Hunk.”

Lance gasps. “I’m was not!”

“He was.”

Lance gasps even louder. “ _ Hunk! _ ”

“Who’re you looking for, anyway? What do you mean by ‘mullet’?” Tony asks, arching an eyebrow at him. Lance pouts at him before he squirms on his hold.

“I’m looking for Keith!” Lance says, blinking in surprise when he looks around him. Huh, this is actually a better view of the park.

“Kogane?” Tony questions, eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he snorts. “Lance, buddy, he’s right there.”

Lance gasps, turning his eyes towards where his brother turns to. He sees two figures, quickly recognizing Keith and Mr. Kogane near the lake’s edge.

They are both crouching down, Keith’s arms wrapped around his legs as he stares at the tiny frogs that keep jumping from on the leaves floating above the water.

“Keith!” Lance shouts, jumping off his brother’s hold to run. He ignores his brother’s calling, a big smiling growing in his face as he gets closer to the seven-years-old.

Mr. Kogane looks up first, confusion quickly fading away as soon as he locks eyes with Lance. The six-years-old waves at him with a polite smile before he stops short in front of a bewildered Keith.

“Hah! I knew you will come!” Lance says, puffing his chest out proudly as he places his hands on his hips. “You ready? You sign in yet? Mr. Coran says this year’s contest it’s going to be  _ super  _ cool! And I’mma win it! So, did you? Keith?”

Keith frowns, opening his mouth before closing it a few times over. Lance arches an eyebrow at him before he hears Mr. Kogane chuckle.

“Actually, we were on our way to sign him up before  _ someone  _ got distracted by the frogs,” Mr. Kogane says, shooting his son a playful look to which Keith smiles sheepishly. “Do you mind keeping him company while I sign him up, Lance?”

Lance nods enthusiastically, giggling when Mr. Kogane reaches out to ruffle his hair. He likes Mr. Kogane.

“Lance, Lance, don’t run so fast,” Hunk whines as he jogs over where they stand with Tony close behind, panting hard as soon as he stops next to the six-years-old. “I’m tired, you run so fast.”

“Like Sonic!” Lance shouts happily, barely catching his brother talking with Mr. Kogane before he focuses back to his friend. “Because I love blue and I’m the fastest!”

“But Shadow is faster,” Keith mumbles, shrugging innocently when Lance’s eyes focus on him. “And he’s red, I like red.”

Lance pouts at him, narrowing his eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest. He sees the seven years old doing the same, ready to fight back if necessary.

Hunk steps in and saves them all from World War Three.

“Oh! Hi, Keith!” Hunk beams, waving at the other seven-years-old happily. Keith blinks at him before his lips curve into a small smile.

“Hi, Hunk.”

“You are going to do the contest too?” Hunk asks, jumping on his feet when Keith nods shyly. “Ooh! Cool! You know what it is? My sister saw a chest full of costumes and stuff behind our tent!”

“Costumes?” Keith asks, tilting his head to the side.

Lance gasps. “Oh, oh! Like in Halloween? I call on being Superman!”

“I wanna be Spider-man!” Hunk shouts next, high-fiving his best friend.

Lance beams at him before he turns towards Keith who stares at them both with wide eyes.

“What you wanna to be?” Lance asks. He needs to know because that way he will know if he can beat Keith in the contest. It’s science like Veronica says.

“Hmm,” Keith says, looking down and furrowing his eyebrows as he thinks. He taps his chin with his finger before he scratches his cheek. “I think, I think I wanna be Wonder Woman.”

Both Lance and Hunk stare back at him for a full second before the youngest between them whines.

“Not fair!” Lance shouts, slapping his hand against his face. “Wonder Woman beats everyone! I wanna change! I wanna be...um, uh, oh! I wanna be Storm from X-men!”

“Oh, oh, because you like rain?” Hunk asks in awe, clapping when Lance nods proudly. “Cool! And why you wanna be Wonder Woman, Keith?” he asks curiously, turning his head to meet Keith’s eyes.

“Um, she looks like my mom,” Keith whispers, a shy but happy smile on his lips as he pushes his bangs away from his face. “She’s really strong and pretty, like my mom.”

Lance pauses, blinking in surprise at the words before he tries to remember what Keith’s mom looks like. He knows he has seen her, several times during their daily visits to the park.

She’s pretty, Lance knows, but not as pretty as his mama. Mrs. Kogane has dark hair, similar to Keith’s but always tight down in a low ponytail. Her skin is darker than Keith’s, usually looking like a toast like Lance does whenever he visits his abuelos back in Cuba.

She has pretty eyes, though, with the colors of his favorite purple crayon. He remembers because he once borrowed it to Keith so he could finish a family portrait he was drawing but he never gave it back.

Or maybe Pidge took it, Lance’s not really sure.

Anyway, Mrs. Kogane is pretty and nice. He likes her even though she doesn’t smile that much but her pats and hugs are  _ super  _ warm.

He also once saw her lift a park bench. So, maybe she  _ was  _ Wonder Woman.

Dang it, Keith always get the cool stuff.

“Lance, come on, the competition is about to start.” He hears Tony say behind him. Lance blinks before he nods and grabs both of Hunk and Keith’s hands, tugging them hard as he runs.

“Come on, come on, come on! I gotta choose the best costume before Keith does!”

“Then why are you holding his hand?” Tony asks confused but scoffs when he’s ignored.

He doesn’t know how the mind of a six-years-old work.

 

 

* * *

 

Lance beams brightly at the treasure before him.

Last week, when Luis choose the movie before bedtime, the chest that was on TV was full of yellow coins (with no chocolate inside, Lance found out later when he asked) and pretty shiny red and blue small rocks.

But the chest in front of Lance doesn’t have that. It has  _ clothes _ .

“Remember, you ankle biters, you can choose anything from these chests to wear,” Mr. Coran says behind them and Lance turns to see him twist the end of his orange mustache. It ends up looking like a broom. “Share with each other and once you’re satisfied with your look, you all tell Mr. Blaytz, alright?”

The funny looking guy with the blue hair raises his hand behind Mr. Coran, a lazy smile on his face. “Hey-yo!”

Mr. Coran makes a face as he looks at him. “On second thought, maybe I should get Trigel to supervise them.”

“You hurt me, Coran.”

Lance giggles into his hands at the exchange but quickly tunes them out. He turns to see the chest again, cooing and gasping in awe at every piece of clothing he finds inside.

A lot of the kids had already chosen their own things from the other chest. Some of them looking funny with the hats he has only seen his abuela wear and really big shoes that remind him of the ones he had stepped on as his papa danced with him in his cousin’s wedding.

Maybe he should wear those! Papa is always wearing them when he dances.

Lance purses his lips. But he once saw him dancing with just one sock in the middle of the living him with his mama, though.

Lance shrugs. He can find something else to wear.

And he finds stuff. There’s a lot to choose from and he’s not sure what to wear.

“Lance, look!” Hunk calls, making him turn around to see him. Lance giggles as he sees the big wing-like sunglasses over his friend’s eyes and the Santa’s hat covering most of his hair.

Lance notices that Santa keeps losing his hats; because there’s usually a big pile of them in the supermarket every Christmas. Lance doesn’t know how he loses them. 

He once offered to send them back to the North Pole by mail. His mama and papa cut him off by the fifth try.

“Hunk, you look so cool!” Lance shouts, jumping on his spot before he dives into the chest and digs around. “I want one of Santa’s hats!”

But he doesn’t find any. Lance pouts as he crosses his arms and glares at the chest as if it was its fault. In a way, it was!

“Hey,” he hears someone say next to him and he looks to the side to see Keith.

Keith nods at him as greeting, the Viking helmet on his head tilting too much on his right but he stops it with his hand every time it slides off.

It makes Lance giggle because Keith looks funny.

“Why you sad?” Keith asks, huffing when his helmet now slides to his front, covering his eyes.

“I wanted a Santa hat but there aren’t any left,” Lance sighs, rubbing his arm resigned.

Keith stays quiet before nodding determinedly and takes off his Viking helmet.

“Hold this,” he says, pushing the helmet to Lance’s hand before he runs back to the other chest across their own. 

Lance frowns in confusion, tilting his head as he watches him dive into the chest, legs barely sticking out. He comes back a few seconds later, a smile in his face as he holds out a small circle thing towards Lance.

“They are blue,” Keith mumbles, looking down at the small flower crown before he takes his helmet from Lance’s hands and puts it on the ground. 

“You like blue, right?” he asks as he puts the flower crown on top of Lance’s head, nodding in approval as he steps back and admires his handiwork. “Like Sonic.”

Lance  _ does  _ like blue. And they are  _ really  _ pretty, he could totally win with these!

“You’re not going to use them?” Lance asks suspiciously, reaching out to touch the flower crown when Keith shakes his head. “Why?”

Keith shrugs, picking up his helmet from the floor. “It’s a crown, you like crowns.”

He does.

“And Vikings are cool,” Keith shrugs as he picks up his helmet from the ground. “Shiro was a Viking on Halloween, I wanna be one too.”

“Ooh,” Lance hums, fingers playing with a flower from the crown before he grins. “I’m still going to win,” he warns him playfully, raising a finger and poking at Keith in the chest as a threat.

Keith pouts at the poke but doesn’t look bothered at the words. “Okay?”

“Okay, kids, you have ten more minutes - wait, no, Nyma, spit that out - Nyma, that’s not gum!”

“Come on,” Lance whispers, taking advantage of Mr. Blaytz distraction to grab Keith by the wrist. “Let’s see behind the curtain.”

Keith follows him quietly, the red coming back to his face and giggling softly whenever Lance squeezes their hands.

“It tickles,” he says as an explanation when Lance looks back at him in confusion. The answer makes Lance giggle himself.

“I get tickles but on the neck,” Lance says, reaching out with his free hand to show Keith. The seven-years-old squeals in surprise and then laughs as soon as Lance’s fingers graze his skin. “Like that!”

“Stop,” Keith says in between giggles. Lance shrugs with a smile, letting him have a moment of peace. He knows what's like when people don’t stop the tickles, Luis is mean when it comes to tickle fights.

“Come on,” Lance urges then, tugging him towards the big curtain. He opens it from the corner with enough space so they could stick their heads out.

“There’s my mom,” Keith whispers quietly then, pointing towards the first row in front of the stage. Lance’s eyes follow his pointing and his gaze quickly falls on Mr. and Mrs. Kogane.

Mrs. Kogane looks back at them at the same time, blinking in surprise before she smiles kindly and waves at them. Keith waves back, beaming happily to have his mom’s attention.

“She  _ looks  _ like Wonder Woman,” Lance whispers softly and it only makes Keith beam brighter.

“I know.”

 

 

* * *

 

Lance walks out of the stage with a big smile.

He beams brighter when he hears his family cheering for him and he giggles at the amount of applause that follows.

He loves the attention, it makes him feel important.

Like it’s his birthday but without the cake.

“Please, welcome to our next and final model! Give it up for Lance Alessandro McClain,” Mr. Blaytz announces through his microphone opening his arms wide to gesture his entire small body.

Lance bounces on his spot, waving enthusiastically towards his mama who waves back at him while his papa captures the entire thing with his video camera.

“We can see Young Lance has chosen quite the outfit,” Mr. Coran hums on his right, taking one of his hands and making him do a twirl. Lance giggles the entire way. “Such vivid colors! This purple vest with that SpongeBob shirt? Iconic.”

“Don’t forget the flower crown, simply  _ divine _ ,” Mr. Blaytz says, making an ‘Ok’ gesture with his fingers before making a face. Lance snorts, the face reminding him of a character in a movie where the emperor turned into a llama.

“Keith got it for me!” Lance says with a smile before he points towards the seven-years-old that stands on the other side of the stage with the rest of the kids. “He likes helmets, though.”

The crowd laughs and coos at him for some reason but Lance doesn't mind. He watches as Keith smiles back at him shyly and ducks his face.

“Well, that was nice of him!” Mr. Blaytz says with a small chuckle.

“But don’t forget those boots, please!” Mr. Coran exclaims then, throwing himself to the floor until he’s next to Lance, pointing at his frog themed rain boots. “Young Lance, you have taste.”

“Thank you!” Lance shouts proudly, hands on his hips.

“Alright, Tiny McClain, let’s see what the judges have to say, ready?” Mr. Blaytz says, patting him on the back for him to turn towards where the judges were.

He waves at Mrs. Reyner, who waves back at him with a fond smile before she turns to the rest of the judges. They whisper among themselves for a short second before each of them raise their cards.

Mr. Coran gasps loudly. “Young Lance, you got two Heart emojis, a Shooting Star emoji, and three Crown emojis!”

“We got a winner!” Mr. Blaytz shouts. “Please, everyone, a round of applause for Tiny McClain!”

Lance gasps, squeezing his own cheeks together before he jumps with excitement on his spot on the stage.

“Mama, mama, I won!” Lance shouts towards his mama as he points at himself. His mama laughs before she nods at him, beaming proudly.

“Parents, please, come and join all of your kids for the prizes’ ceremony,” Mr. Coran says, waving his hands to encourage the parents on the crowd. “That will happen as soon as  _ someone  _ gets the prizes!”

Mr. Blaytz throws his hands in the air. “I’m goin’, geez!”

“Oh,  _ corazón _ , I’m so proud of you,” his mama says as soon as she joins him on the stage and hugs him tight. Lance giggles as she drops several kisses all over his face.

“Mama,” he whines after the  _ million  _ kiss, already squirming out of her grip. “ _ Stoop _ .”

“Alright, alright,” his mama says as she puts him down, stroking his hair before she pushes him towards the other kids. “Go with your friends, I will call you when it’s time for the ceremony, okay?”

Lance nods distracted, already making his way towards his friends. He finds Keith first, the seven-years-old currently playing with one of the horns of his Viking helmet.

“Keith, Keith! I won!” Lance shouts as he stops in front of him. “Your flower crown worked!”

“Cool,” Keith says, nodding his head in approval.

Lance laughs, grinning wide as he puts his hands on his hips. “How about that! I won! How do you feel about that?

Keith shrugs nonchalantly. “Meh.”

“Huh,” Lance blinks in surprise, humming when he doesn’t see any sign of Keith actually lying. Not even when he pokes his cheek, only getting a snort from Keith at the action.

“Don’t poke,” Keith mumbles, waving Lance’s hand away with a small frown.

Lance shrugs. “Well, I won! I think I’m going to get another crown! Because of my outfit, it’s cool right?” he asks as he twirls around with a smile. “Right? What do you think?”

Keith blinks blankly at him for a solid seconds before his lips twitch.

“You look pretty.”

Lance freezes, eyes blown wide in surprise before he feels his tummy doing a weird thing inside him that he doesn’t like at all. It’s weird and  _ warm _ .

He purses his lips, ducking his head shyly just to look away from Keith and his stare.

“I, um - you,” he babbles dumbly, scowling at himself when he can’t talk right before he stomps his foot on the stage and storms off in frustration. “Whatever! I won still!”

He runs the rest of the way, crashing against his mama’s legs and quickly hiding behind them. He just grumbles as an answer when his mama asks him what’s wrong and sighs contently when she accepts it and starts running her fingers through his hair as comfort.

But he still sneaks a peek between his mama’s legs.

Keith is still looking his way from where Lance left him, hands no longer playing with his helmet but instead playing with each other shyly.

He looks sad.

Lance sees as Mr. Kogane arrives not a second later, quickly crouching down next to the seven-years-old and rubbing his back soothingly.

They talk in hushed whispers, Keith shrugging helplessly and confused as he points towards Lance before he pouts. Mr. Kogane blinks bemused before he follows his pointing and then huffs with a smile.

Mr. Kogane shakes his head with a small laugh before he leans down to hug his son.

Keith looks less sad after that.

Lance looks away. Whatever, he doesn’t care what Keith thinks, he still won.


	3. Chapter 3

Lance wonders when will Marco come back from college.

“Who wants a cracker? Who wants a pretty animal cracker?”

Because Luis is the worst ‘not-babysitter’ ever.

“Luis, stop!” Lance shouts, slapping his older brother’s hand away, not even caring when one of the crackers between Luis’s fingers falls to the grass. He turns to the side, covering his animal companion from his brother’s eyes. “Mozz doesn’t want any!”

The sixteen-years-old rolls his eyes. “You don’t know that.”

“I know she doesn’t like you,” Lance says, adding a glare in the end. His brother huff and raises both hands in the air as mock surrender.

“Geez, touchy,” Luis whispers before gives in, throwing the remaining animal cracker to his mouth. He chews for a few seconds before he nudges his little brother's shoulder. “Alright, enough playing around; I promised mom I will sign you up on time.”

Lance makes a face as he starts walking, moving to the side to avoid his brother’s pushing. “Are you going to change my name again?”

His nose scrunches offended when his brother barks a laugh.

“Oh, man, classic,” the teen whispers, clapping once as if congratulating himself before he shakes his head. “But no; while that was funny as hell, it was not worth the weekend-long grounding I got from mom.”

Lance grins. “Good.”

“But Lancey Lance shall live in our memories!”

“Luuuis,” Lance whines, throwing his head back in despair. He grunts in annoyance when his brother laughs louder and reaches out to ruffle his hair.

Lance’s pout doesn’t last long. He snickers as he slaps his brother’s hand away and jogs a few steps ahead to put distance between him and Luis, sticking his tongue out over his shoulder.

He hears his brother scoff, saying something of staying close but Lance waves him off. It’s the park, he knows every corner like the palm of his hand.

As if he would get lost.

It’s crowded, Lance can admit that but that only makes it half the fun. He makes sure to hold Mozz close to his chest as he squeezes between bodies towards the tent where the contest will be held.

He can see the stage near the tent from where he stands. He’s excited for finally being old enough to join the big boys' range.

Lance remembers when Luis participated on the pet contest for big kids with Godzilla the Lizard a few years ago and actually won a _bicycle_.

Said bicycle was stolen two weeks later but _still_.

“You are better than a lizard, aren’t you, Mozz?” Lance coos at his bird as he waits for his brother to catch up. Big kids category and yet he still needs someone even bigger to sign him up. That’s dumb.

Mozz doesn’t answer him but she does blink and bumps her head against his nose. Lance takes it as agreement.

Lance snickers and decides to go over his list of tricks for the contest with Mozz one more time. They did it last night, under the covers because it was past bedtime.

Mozz favorite trick is to shake her head and Lance knows because last week he chased her down throughout all his house trying to take the ring she stole from Veronica.

Lance also know Luis recorded him the entire time and had been laughing hysterically watching his ten-years-old brother shouting _‘no, no, no’_ over and over to a bird that keeps on shaking her head in command while running away.

The trick backfired on Lance but that’s okay, he knows Mozz was trying her best.

He’s considering of maybe adding the trick of high-fiving to the list when something crashes against him on the back of his legs.

Lance hisses, letting go of Mozz to use his hands and keep his balance. The bird ends up on top of his head and shifting anxiously around it.

Lance lets her be. Instead, he turns around to catch whatever had crashed against him and he is faced with a ball of fur.

“Oh, hi!” Lance coos immediately at the puppy by his feet. Said puppy waggles its tail, happy with the attention before it bumps its head against Lance’s legs once again.

Lance snickers at the action, crouching down to pet the puppy’s head. “Are you lost?” he asks, tilting his head to the side and humming when the puppy barks. “Ah, okay, so not lost?”

The puppy barks again, doing a quick circle on its spot before barking at Lance again.

Lance laughs, shaking his head. “What’re you saying, silly?”

Instead of answering him, like a proper gentle-dog, the puppy pounces at him. Lance yelps in surprise, laughter already leaving his lips before a wet tongue is being pressed against his face.

“Oh no - _ha, ha_ \- stop!” he snickers, vaguely still feeling Mozz’s steps over his head as she watches the entire scene with curiosity. “ _Stooop_.”

“Cosmo! Cosmo, no, wait!”

The tongue disappears and Lance finally has a moment to control his giggles before he looks up at his savior.

Keith stands in front of him, holding the chubby puppy close to his chest by the front paws with his belly exposed. The older kid grunts as he shifts his puppy in his arms, mouth twitching when said puppy whines and tries to throw its head back in hopes to lick his face instead.

“Hey, no, behave,” Keith says, fighting down his snicker before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes at the puppy. “Cosmo, stay _still_.”

Cosmo does _not_ stay still.

Lance snorts, using his long sleeve to wipe away the remains of the puppy’s slobber and watches Keith struggle. “I don’t think he wants to.”

The ten-years-old shots him a flat glare before he focuses on his puppy. “Ugh, Cosmo,” he groans before he shifts the animal, holding him at an arm length and now facing him. “We had a deal! No leash meant no kiss-attack strangers.”

Lance laughs from his place in the ground, legs now crossed. “Kiss-attack?” he mocks, sticking his tongue out when Keith glares at him.

“Shut up, my mom calls them that,” Keith grumbles.

“I also said to apologize for Cosmo if he did one of those,” Mrs. Kogane says then, appearing behind her son with both hands on her hip. She arches an eyebrow at both her kid and his puppy. “Why is Lance still on the floor?”

Keith looks between his mom and Lance before he shrugs. “He likes it there.”

“Meh,” Lance says, shrugging his shoulder, making a ‘so-so’ with his hand. Mrs. Kogane doesn’t look amused.

“Fine,” Keith gives in after holding his mom’s stare for ten whole seconds. He grumbles in annoyance as he puts Cosmo down before holding out his hand towards the brunet. “Sorry, Lance.”

“S’okay,” Lance says shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly before taking Keith’s hand. Mozz chirps at the movement before she flies down to Lance’s shoulder. “He just surprised me, he came out of nowhere!”

“I know, he is super fast!” Keith says proudly, grinning big at his puppy and laughing when Cosmo runs around him in circles. “It’s like he teleports!”

Lance snorts but nods with his head either way. Because, technically, Cosmo _did_ teleport.

“Are you going to join the contest, Lance?” Mrs. Kogane asks him then, couching down to meet his eyes. “I saw your brother a few minutes ago near the tent.”

Lance smiles sheepishly at her as he nods. “Yeah, Luis is supposed to signing me up.”

“Is he going to change your name again as he did two years ago?” Mrs. Kogane jokes lightly, arching an eyebrow at him. Lance opens his mouth to reply before he pauses, frowns and then gasps.

“I told him no!” Lance says, pouting as he looks behind him to catch his brother, clipboard already in hand. He doesn’t trust that smirk on his face. “Luis! I’m watching you!”

His brother’s smirk only grows wider.

Mrs. Kogane laughs quietly in front of him. “It’s alright, Lance. I was heading myself to sign Keith up. I will make sure your name is the correct one.”

Lance beams. “Thank you, Mrs. Kogane.”

The woman nods at him, offering a small smile before she stands up and looks around. “Keith, do you know where your brother is? I can’t leave you two alone.”

“I dunno,” Keith replies distracted from the floor, yelping when Cosmo leaps high to kiss his cheek. “I saw him with Matt, I think?”

“Oh, I see him,” Mrs. Kogane says, eyes falling on the two teenagers near the lake’s edge, kicking a soccer ball between them. “Takashi!”

The sixteen-years-old looks up, barely catching the ball heading to his face right on time. It makes both Keith and Lance snort and giggles between themselves.

“Yeah?” the teen calls from his spot, pushing his friend’s face away when Matt tries to reach for the ball.

“Watch the kids, please?” Mrs. Kogane asks, kind but firm. They all know it’s not a request.

Lance watches as Keith’s brother groans but nods in the end, jogging a little to meet them with Matt close behind.

“Okay but can I go over to Matt’s later, then?” Shiro asks as soon as he arrives, lips purses as he gambles with his stepmom.

Mrs. Kogane hums, tapping her chin as if thinking it over before she nods. “Okay but be back by dinner.”

“Deal.”

Lance laughs to himself at the exchange, wondering how easy it had been the entire thing. He knows that Luis takes ages to convince their mom to go _anywhere_. Maybe it’s because Luis is a ‘rebel’ as Veronica usually calls him.

“Oh, hey, is that a cockatiel bird?” Matt suddenly ask after Mrs. Kogane leaves, making Lance turn to him. The brunet blinks in confusion before he perks up and Mozz chips on his head.

“Oh, yeah!” he shouts, making soft noises and holding his hand up for Mozz to climb on it. “My uncle got her for me on my last birthday!”

“Cool, what’s her name?” Shiro asks.

“Her name is Mozz!” Lance shouts excited.

Shiro smiles, ruffling his hair. “Hey, cool name! Did you name her after Mozart?”

Lance blinks before he frowns in confusion. “What? No. It’s short for Mozzarella.”

“I love this kid,” Matt whispers quietly as he covers his hand over his mouth to hide the big grin on his lips. Shiro elbows him with an exasperated sigh.

Lance ignores him as he turns to Keith. “Who’s Mozart?” he asks in confusion. The ten-years-old shrugs his shoulders.

“I dunno,” Keith says quietly with a small frown. “I think he lives in the forest, though.”

“That’s Mothman, Keith,” Shiro laughs, shaking his head as he taps his own forehead in disbelief. Matt doesn’t even try to cover his laughter at this point.

Keith frowns. “Uh, no. Mothman is the piano guy, remember?”

“I can’t, I can’t, please - stop,” Matt giggles, holding his stomach as he vents forward. “Oh, oh, god, I’m going to focus on Lance’s bird.”

“Mozz,” Lance corrects smoothly and Matt echoes him.

“Right, right,” the teen says, waving his hand and leaning closer to him. “So, Mozz, huh? Can I pet her?”

Lance nods with a grin. “Yeah! She likes it,” he says before he frowns and holds a finger up to the teen. “But no crackers!”

Matt holds both of his hands in surrender. “Cross my heart, little dude.”

That’s good enough for Lance.

“Is she going to be with you in the contest, Lance?” Shiro asks him from his side, taking a seat on the grass next to his brother. Keith grumbles in annoyance when Cosmo squirms off his arms to land on Shiro’s lap.

Lance nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah! Mozz and I have been practicing for months!”

“Wow, months?” Matt says in awe as he strokes the bird’s head gently. “That’s cool! What can she do?”

“She likes playing Peek-a-boo,” Lance says, grinning proudly at his bird. “My dad helped me with that one. It took us _so_ long but Mozz got it after a while.”

His words trail off after that because there’s a sudden shift. Keith winces slightly at the words, shifting on his seat before leaning closer to his brother.

Lance bites down his lower lip, suddenly feeling bad. He knows Mr. Kogane passed away over a year ago, the year he didn’t see Keith much around except for school and sometimes the park.

It had been also the year Keith hadn't participate for the first time in the contest of back then. Lance won second place for his folding-socks idea but it hadn’t been as cool as he had thought. Not with Keith missing.

“What can Cosmo do?” Lance asks softly, kneeling on the other side of Shiro slowly so he wouldn’t surprise Mozz with the action.

Keith looks up back at him, surprise clear in his eyes before he smiles. “He, uh, he runs?”

Lance snorts. “What? He only runs?”

“Hey, tell him about the jumps,” Shiro suddenly says, nodding in encouragement at his little brother as he continues to scratch the puppy’s belly. “You know, that trick from last week?”

Keith perks up. “Oh, oh yeah! He can jump too,” he announces, grinning proudly. “He can jump so high, almost up to my chest!”

“What? No way, I don’t believe you!” Lance gasps, narrowing his eyes at the puppy in the teen’s lap. Cosmo returns the stare upside down while sticking out his tongue. “Sounds fake.”

“Nah-huh, Cosmo is the best.” Keith insists, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at Lance.

“I bet my bird can beat your puppy,” Lance says cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows as he carefully cups Mozz between his hands to keep her close.

Keith scrunches his nose. “Nah-huh, Cosmo is better,” he says, patting his lap at Cosmo who gets the idea and quickly jumps off Shiro’s lap to snuggle close to his owner’s chest.

Impressive, Lance admits, but not out loud. “Mozz can fly,” he says instead as he stands up, feeling taller than Keith for only a second before the other ten-years-old copies him.

“Cosmo can run.”

“Mozz is faster.”

“No, Cosmo is faster.”

“Nah-huh.”

“Yeh-huh.”

“Nah-huh!”

“And we are walking now!” Shiro cuts in loudly as he stands up quickly and starts pushing both kids on the back towards the tent. “Move it, cadets! The last one to the tent loses.”

Both Lance and Keith gasps in worry, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as they look up at the teen. “Loses what?”

Shiro blinks owlishly, sneaking a glance towards his friend who offers no help before he shouts, “He just loses! So, run, run, run!”

It does the trick, somehow, and both kids take off towards their tent while hugging heir pet close to their chest.

It ends up in a tie.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lance watches from behind the curtain.

He had just finished his act with Mozz. The crowd had loved it, especially when Mozz whistled loudly when Lance asked him if Mr. Coran was gorgeous.

It had taken them a lot to train Mozz for that trick but it had been worth it because it earnt him a heart emoji from Mr. Coran on the judge’s table.

But now it’s Keith’s turn and Lance doesn’t want to miss it.

To watch him lose, of course. He’s the competition, Lance needs to be updated to the competition’s moves.

Therefore, he pushes a bunch of kids until he’s the one on the front, having the first row from the back of the stage to see Keith.

“Now, please, everyone! Let’s welcome our next competitor and his lovely puppy: Keith Kogane and Cosmo!” Mrs. Trigel announces from the corner of the stage across the judges’ table, wireless mic on her right hand.

From his spot, Lance can only see Keith’s back and the tip of Cosmo ear before the ten-years-old puts him down on the floor to wave at Mrs. Trigel.

“Hello,” Keith mumbles, turning his head slightly for Lance to catch the small smile on his lips.

Mrs. Trigel smiles back at him. “Hi, Keith, it’s lovely to have you. Now, we know your animal companion for this contest is Cosmo, correct?”

Keith nods shortly as an answer and Mrs. Trigel continues. “Can you tell us what kind of dog he is?” she asks, leaning down slightly and holding out the mic to Keith while she waits for an answer.

Lance hears Keith hum in thought for a few seconds before he shrugs.

“Well, I’m not sure? We found him a few months back on my way back from my karate lessons near Mr. Montgomery’s shop,” he says quietly, crouching down enough to stroke his puppy’s head gently. “He, uh, was sad and alone.”

Lance purses his lips, something in Keith’s confession telling him that he’s not just talking about Cosmo.

“I’m happy to see he’s not either of those now with you on his side,” Mrs. Trigel says kindly, patting him on the back as reassurance. “Do you or anyone inside your family have a clue on what he may be?”

Keith hums loudly. “My mom says he looks like a manalute -”

“Malamute, sweetheart.” Mrs. Kogane says from her seat on the front row below the stage. Keith makes a small ‘oh’ sound before he nods.

“Yeah, that,” he says proudly before he continues. “But my brother says he looks like a husky, but with more fur.”

Mrs. Trigel hums. “Well, what do you think he is?”

Keith doesn’t hesitate on his answer. “He’s a good boy.”

The crowd coos loudly at the words. Lance does too but his own are tuned out from Hunk’s who is next to him. That’s why he is Lance’s best friend, to cover his moment of weakness.

“That sounds about right,” Mrs. Trigel laughs kindly before he straightens up. “Alright, Keith, the stage is yours. Please begin whenever you’re ready.”

Keith nods stiffly as thanks before he walks towards the center of the stage with Cosmo on following close behind. He picks up a hula-hoop there, holding it close to the ground, and then he whistles.

Cosmo jumps through the hula-hoop after the second whistle, barking contently when he makes it to the other side. The crowd coos once again at the trick.

Keith whistles again, this time somehow making Cosmo to jump at the first try. Keith grins proudly as he slowly starts holding the hula-hoop a little farther from the ground after each jump.

And _oh_ , Keith wasn’t kidding when he said Cosmo could jump. But that’s fine, there’s no way that trick will beat Mozz’s own.

Lance’s definitely going to win first place.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Neither of them wins first place.

“Maybe Shiro jinxed us?” Lance mumbles as he watches from the side of the stage as Allura is given the first price of the contest.

He _knew_ it was going to be a bicycle, he totally called it. The pink and sparkly color was a surprise but _hey_ , as if that would have stopped him from riding it.

Veronica would have been _so_ jealous.

Keith hums distracted from his right, still playing with the small medal they gave the rest of them as a consolation prize. He takes it off to put it over Cosmo’s head and smiles when the puppy waggles his tail happily at him.

“Or maybe Allura’s mice were pretty cool?” Keith suggests with a shrug. “I didn’t know mice could do pyramids.”

Yeah, okay, _sure_. Lance can admit Allura’s mice trick were pretty cool.

But still.

“I would have totally won with Kaltenecker,” Lance continues, throwing a quick apologetic look to Mozz on top of his head. “No offense, Mozz.”

Mozz chirps at him, dismissing him. She’s still salty for losing.

“Who is Kalke - uh, Kaltenacker?” Keith asks bewildered, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Lance snorts. “No, no, it’s Kaltenecker,” he repeats slowly with a playful smile, “and she’s my cow! I helped my abuelo to deliver her last summer.”

“Where is she now?” Keith asks, tilting his head to the side as he picks up Cosmo, giggling when the puppy licks his right cheek.

“At my abuelo’s farm,” Lance says before he pouts. “Veronica snitched on me when I tried to sneak her into our car last time we visited.”

Keith clicks his tongue. “I can help you next time.”

Lance stares for a few seconds before he shouts, “Really¡?”

Keith laughs while nodding with his head. “Yeah, why not? That way I can win first place with Cosmo while your cow eats grass.”

Lance gasps, smacking his hand over his chest and startling Mozz in the process. “What! Nah-huh, as if! Kaltenecker and I would totally win first place!”

“Nah-huh because next year, Cosmo would be bigger and faster,” Keith says smugly, shaking his puppy in the air as proof. “He’s going to win.”

Lance glares at Keith before he leans down to meet Cosmo’s eyes. He tries not to break under the innocent lick Cosmo does to his nose.

“Being cute won’t save you, buddy,” Lance says as he points at him with his finger and pokes him on the nose.

“He doesn’t need saving,” Keith says with a grin, “but your cow might.”

“No, she won’t!”

“Yeah-huh.”

“Nah-huh.”

“Yeah-huh!”

“Nah-huh!”

They don’t stop, not even after both of their older brothers respectively throw them over their shoulder and walk away to opposite sides of the park.

Lance later finds out his mama recorded the entire thing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooooooooooo!! hope you enjoy this update <3 
> 
> Last chapter will be up by this weekend!!!

_ “What!” _

“Lance, inner voice.”

“It  _ is  _ my inner voice!”

His papa laughs, quickly hiding the action by coughing half a lung when his mama glares at him. Lance waves them both off, ignoring the warning his mama says to him when her eyes fall on him once again.

“Mr. Zarkon, please!” Lance pleads with his hands clasped together as he falls to his knees in front of the adult.

The coordinator looks uncomfortable, to say the least. He clears his throat, bringing the clipboard on his hand closer to his chest as he rubs the back of his neck with his free one.

“I am sorry, Lance, but the group is full,” Mr. Zarkon says slowly, awkwardly patting him on the head as if to comfort him. “Maybe you can try next year?”

“But I’m ready now!” Lance whines before he tries to make his best puppy look and throwing it at the adult. “I have been practicing the entire summer! I swear it’s good.”

“Believe him, half of our dishes are gone because of that,” his mama sighs behind him and Lance doesn’t need to turn around to know she’s shaking her head.

Mr. Zarkon sends a sympathetic look at his mama over his head. “Ah, that sounds unfortunate.”

“It’s okay, they were old,” his papa says with a small chuckle, “and ugly.”

“Hector,” his mama scolds, smacking him in the arm. “You bought them.”

“Yeah but as an impulsive! You were the one who left me alone for too long in the middle of Costco.”

“Oh my god.”

“Mr. Zarkon!” Lance shouts, gaining once again the attention of the adult. “Please! I  _ have  _ to be in the talent show!”

Mr. Zarkon sighs. “Lance, I’m sorry but the talent show had a limited space for contestants,” he explains, for what it's probably the fifth time. Lance lost count. “Maybe you can join some of the other contest we have for your age?”

And that one, right there, is the eighth time the man does the same suggestion.

“But the only one left is the one with the egg and the spoon!” Lance complaints, throwing his head back in defeat. “That’s for kids!”

“Kiddo, you’re a kid,” his papa reminds him playfully from above.

“For  _ little  _ kids, papa!” Lance shouts annoyed but doesn’t push away when his papa’s reaches down to ruffle his hair. 

“Well, technically it’s for kids between ten and thirteen, Lance,” Mr. Zarkon comforts weakly, “and you fit right in!”

Lance sends him a flat look.

“Listen, sunshine,” his mama cuts in, stepping forward to kneel next to him. She sends him a stern but sympathetic look. “You either enter join the contest with the egg and the spoon or you turn into the babysitter and watch over your niblings in their own contest. Decide.”

“But it’s not fair! It was Vero’s fault we were even late for my signing!” Lance whines, wisely choosing against stomping his foot against the ground. That wouldn’t help him.

His mama doesn’t move an inch. “Lance, decide.”

Lance puffs his cheeks, blue eyes narrowed in both annoyance and frustration as he glares at his mama. Neither. Lance wants neither of the options and he’s gonna make that  _ clear _ . But his mama doesn’t waver, she stares unblinkingly at him with a blank look before she stands up.

“Babysitter it is.”

Man, he needs to work on his plans. 

“Ma, no!”

 

 

* * *

 

Okay, maybe he exaggerated.

Being the babysitter is not so bad.

He won’t get a plastic crown or a bicycle, that’s for sure, but at least he gets free snacks. Or, well, as many as he can sneak out from the table for the contest next to theirs with the help of Hunk when Mr. Gyrgan isn’t looking.

Lance snickers to himself as he waves back at his friend a few feet away from him. Both of their contests are not so far away from the other and the only thing that separates them is their tent’s colors.

While Hunk’s is purple with a lot of tables filled with kitchen supplies and some food, Lance’s is orange and consists of only a circle of easels in the middle of it.

And some chairs in toddler’s size but, really, no one uses them. Not even the toddlers.

“Okay, Nadia, do you want the tiger or the bear?” Lance asks as he holds the two animal crackers, his attention back on his niece as she sits on the ground with the toddler chair behind her. See? This is what Lance means.

His niece blinks at him, though, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Lance hums to himself before he nods.

“Do you want ‘raawr’ or the ‘grrr’?” he asks again, beaming when his niece lights up with understanding and quietly mimics his sounds.

“Raawr!” she squeals, clapping her hands when Lance puts the small cracker in her palm. It looks more like an odd alien than a tiger but Nadia doesn’t seem to care.

“Raawr!” her twin echoes behind her near their shared easel, oblivious of the reason other than just wanting to copy his sister.

“Raawr!” a third voice echoes, coming from Lance’s left. The teen blinks in confusion before he turns and catches a pair of grey eyes, looking up at him expectantly.

Lance didn’t even notice when the easel on his left got taken. It had been empty since he arrived with both Nadia and Sylvio.

“Oh, hey,” Lance says at the toddler, waving his hand as a greeting. He earns a giggle and waves back for his efforts.

“Raawr!” the toddler shouts out again, hands raised as if they were claws before he starts running in circles in front of him, repeating the word over and over. “Raawr, raawr!”

Lance laughs at the scene, shifting on the ground before pulling one of his legs close to his chest and shoots a glance towards the middle of the circle to see Mrs. Honerva, Mr. Zarkon’s wife and the adult in charge to supervise the toddler contest, not paying attention to them.

For being an adult obsessed with order and quietness, as if the park was a library, she didn’t seem particularly focused on his goofy toddler easel-neighbor.

Maybe that’s because she’s too busy stopping Pidge from stealing more paint for her own contest’s experiment to notice.

It’s really a wonder how the eleven-years-old managed to get accepted inside the science contest after the smoke bomb from last year. Veronica, who had been a volunteer back then, smelt like hotcakes for an entire month.

With the knowledge that Mrs. Honerva wasn’t going to reprimand his tiny neighbor, Lance turns back in time to see him crashing, quite literally, against the big body behind him.

And Lance pauses for a second after that, because now he’s taking in the second body that had been there since the beginning but didn’t pay attention to.

He doesn’t know how he managed to miss the mullet.

“Kuro, careful,” Keith says at the toddler. He sneaks his arm behind him to grab the Kuro’s hand and bringing him back to his side, all without looking away from the canvas he’s currently painting on with his free right hand.

The toddlers move smoothly, not struggling in the least before he sits on the teen’s lap, attention now entirely focused on the paintbrush that is offered to him in an attempt to distract him.

Lance stares at the scene, confused by just when did  _ Keith  _ get a new baby brother before he waves it off and decides to focus on the matter at hand.

Matter as in  _ What the heck is his rival doing here? _

“Keith,” Lance hisses quietly, not wanting to attract any attention from the adults around him but he’s tempted to pick up a few pebbles from the ground and throw them at the teen when Keith doesn’t look up. “Keith!”

“What?” Keith grumbles, frowning in annoyance until he looks to his side and catches Lance’s eyes. His frown doesn’t disappear but the annoyance does, being replaced by confusion. “Oh, hey?”

“What’re you doing here?” Lance asks slowly, eyes narrowed in suspicion as Keith turns slightly to glance between some brushes inside the tin can near his thigh.

“Painting,” Keith answers quietly, shrugging his shoulders and picking the smallest brush, holding it high when the toddler in his lap tries to take it from him.

Lance rolls his eyes. “No, I mean like, in this contest,” he explains with a huff, arching an eyebrow when Keith looks back at him confused. “I thought you were going to be in the talent show?”

That had been the  _ main  _ reason why Lance wanted to be on it! Because he had overheard from Matt who heard from Shiro that Keith was going to be there doing circus stuff and Lance  _ had  _ to be there to beat him to it.

He even learned to juggle dishes! And the  _ big  _ kind.

“Oh, yeah, I was  _ going  _ to,” Keith says nonchalantly, dipping the brush inside another tin can filled with paint next to him, ”but my mom confiscated my knives after I almost stabbed Shiro’s boyfriend last week, so I didn’t have an act anymore.”

Lance won’t even ask.

“Okay,” Lance nods seriously, lips purses as he stares at the toddler in Keith’s lap, “I’m still confused on, uh, when did you get a baby brother?”

“Oh, no, this is Kuro,” Keith says, putting his brush down to meet Lance’s eyes. “He’s my cousin. My aunt, I guess, from my Shiro’s mom’s side came to visit from Japan, so yeah.”

“That makes sense, I guess. I mean, he looks  _ just  _ like Shiro,” Lance mumbles, narrowing his eyes as he leans forward to get a better look at the toddler in Keith’s lap.

“People keep saying that,” Keith says with a small shrug, “I think it’s because they share poliosis?”

Lance tilts his head to the side. “What’s that?”

Keith hums, putting his brush down to ruffle the front of his cousin’s head, where a small patch of white hair is shown. “This is; it’s a hereditary thing from the side of Shiro’s mom.”

“Shiro didn’t have that when I met him, though,” Lance says curiosity, pursing his lips. “I thought he had just dyed his hair like Vero did last year.”

Keith shakes his head. “Nah, Shiro’s got his a few months back in college, I think? I don’t know, I didn’t understand it a lot when mom explained it but Kuro  _ was  _ born with it.”

“Ooh, that’s cool,” Lance gasps. “The only thing I share with my cousins or siblings is like, a mole on our right cheek.”

“What? Ew, Lance,” Keith laughs, leaning away from the brunet playfully and shoving him when Lance leans even closer with a smirk.

“What? You have seen it! Remember my pool party last year?”

“When we almost drowned? Yes, I do.” Keith deadpans with his eyes are playful enough for Lance to push forward.

“Hey! You were the one who said you could beat me on holding our breath underwater,” Lance defends himself, arms crossed with a cocky grin, “and we all know who won that.”

“Whatever,” Keith groans, waving him off with a lazily smile. “I will let you have that one.”

“Whatever,  _ babysitter _ ,” Lance snickers, raising his hands in mock surrender when Keith glares at him. “Hey, no shame, I’m in the same boat.”

“Butt!” Sylvio shouts, giggling right after as he continues to spread paint on the grass instead of the canvas in front of him. At least he’s passionate.

Lance smirks cockily as he points at his nephew with his thumb. “See what I mean?” 

Keith laughs quietly, waving at the twins as a greeting even when only Nadia caught his stare long enough to wave back happily.

“Cute,” Keith murmurs and Lance, for some reason, wants to puff out his chest proudly at the words. Yeah, that’s her baby niece, the cutest. “They look like they are having fun.”

Lance nods proudly. “They are, I think they have a chance to win with this...uh, beach?” he says dubious, tilting his head to the side as he squints at the canvas both of his niblings left forgotten.

Well, it’s has yellow and blue paint spread over the blank patches of the canvas. It could pass like a beach.

Okay, a beach with a weird sea monster if that odd spot of orange paint in the middle of the blue one is actually something  _ intentional _ .

“What is Kuro painting?” Lance asks, attention back to the pair of cousins.

“Oh, he’s not painting,” Keith answers while raising the dirty brush in his hand up as proof. “He’s not that into it, so I just let him do his thing.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lance cuts in sharply, waving his arms in the air wildly. “So instead, you’re doing your cousin’s painting?”

Keith shrugs. “Yeah, it’s fun and he clearly doesn’t wanna do it,” he explains calmly, pointing with his brush at Kuro, frowning when he catches the toddler nibbling the middle of a clean brush.

Okay, Keith has a point there.

“But that’s cheating,” Lance still shouts, eyes narrowed as he glares at the older teen. “You can’t do that.”

“Lance, it’s a toddler contest,” Keith says slowly, eyes looking away from his cousin to throw an arched eyebrow at the brunet. Lance doesn’t miss the small smirk on his lips.

Oh. Oh, it’s  _ on _ , Kogane.

“Uh, what is?” Keith questions confused and Lance blinks with equal confusion before he realizes he had said it out loud. Ah, well, might as well make it official.

“This!” Lance shouts, waving his finger between them. “You’re going down!”

“Down!” Kuro echoes happily as he throws the brush in his hand to the ground. Lance tries not to smile.

“That’s right, little dude! You’re cool but you going down with your cousin!” Lance declares, grin growing on his lips as he throws a determined look at the older teen. “Beware, Kogane, the McClains are in town and they are about to kick your ass!”

“Ass!” Nadia echoes behind him happily.

Lance pales. “No, wait, don’t say that.”

Sylvio joins next. “Ass!”

“Can I trade that word for butt?”

“Ass!” both twins shout between giggles.

Keith, for his part, looks oddly amused by the developing scene but it’s not long before his eyes narrow with the same competitivity that takes over whenever Lance starts one of his stupid challenges.

“Well, Kuro and I will kick  _ your  _ butt.”

“Butt,” Kuro giggles in Keith’s lap, throwing one of the clean brushes to the ground. “Butt!”

“Okay, but first; can we trade partners?” Lance asks, picking up his nephew and shaking him slightly. “Lisa might have mercy on me if I return at least one of them without shouting ‘ass’.”

“I don’t think they look alike,” Keith laughs, shaking his head while biting down his lower lip.

Lance frowns, looking down at his nephew before his eyes land on Keith’s cousin. Yeah, okay, the skin color might be a giveaway but their hair is almost,  _ almost  _ the same shade of black if you put a beanie over their heads.

Different nose, though. Sylvio, sadly, got Marco’s nose.

“Fine, whatever! You’re still going down, Mullet!” Lance shouts, putting Sylvio back to the ground. The toddler just coos, totally entranced once again by the colorful tin cans filled with paint inside their given shoebox.

Keith clicks his tongue before he grins cheekily. “Bring it, McClain,” he mumbles, glaring at the brunet before he picks up the brush Kuro had thrown and placing it back on the easel, “and I cut my hair last week, shut up.”

Lance waves him off, reassuring himself that it’s better to win the war than a battle. He quickly turns towards their canvas, lips pursed in thought before he snaps his fingers and gets to work.

He does what he can with the panting his niblings had going on already and Lance’s glad that neither of them seems too offended by him invading their masterpiece. It’s for the greater good, after all. They must have the McClain competitivity in their blood.

Lance’s in the middle of picking up the tin can full of green paint,  _ exactly  _ what he needs for their actual sea monster when something wet lands on his left cheek.

Lance gasps, limbs freezing and mouth open as he turns slowly to the side, arms half-raised and looking like a bird to express his indignation before he meets his attacker.

Keith blinks at him with wide eyes, mouth open as he holds a pink painted brush high up near his head. Kuro, oddly enough, seems too entertained of the developing scene between him, clapping enthusiastically to express his amusement.

Oh, so  _ that’s  _ how this is going to be.

“Why did you do that?” Lance shrieks, glaring at the older teen.

“I, I didn’t? I was just - !” Keith splutters, hissing in sympathy at finding more dots of pink paint in Lance’s neck and a side of his baseball t-shirt. “I’m so -”

Keith shouts out in surprise when a sudden brief rain of paint lands on his face. He shuts his eyes close tight, waiting for it to be completely over before he opens them slowly and blinks owlishly.

Lance smirks smugly at him, shaking the green painted brush in his hand almost in a mocking manner.

“Oh, you’re dead,” Keith whispers, grip tightening around his own dirty brush before he’s grabbing the small bottle of pink paint and dipping it deep inside.

Lance yelps before he scrambles and turns to grab his own can of green paint, quickly offering a bottle of a yellow one when his nephew shouts in distress at the lack of green.

By the time Lance turns back to his rival, Keith is already armed.

“Ah, no, wait - Keith, not fair!” Lance shouts, gagging when some of the paint thrown his way manages to land on his open mouth. “Keith!”

Keith doesn’t cease his attack, though. Lance has no other option but to attack back, some of his fingers getting dirty with paint when he dips the brush too deep but he doesn’t  _ care _ .

He cares about covering Keith  _ entirely  _ with green dots, from head to toe. So, he keeps shaking his brush, making it raindrops of green paint with their only victim being the teen.

But Keith doesn’t back down, he never  _ does _ .

He doesn’t know how it happens but out of the sudden, they are not the only ones in this paint war. Lance catches from the corner of his eyes as Kuro is now playing with another toddler behind Keith’s back, both laughing while spreading colorful paint over their faces with a helpless adult above them.

On the other side of the small circle of easels, more toddlers join the fight and even some adults. It’s a fun thing to witness but Lance doesn’t allow himself to lose track of his own mission.

Lance laughs as he continues to shake his brush at Keith, more and more drops of green paint landing on Keith’s face, hair, and t-shirt. He knows he’s not that far behind since he can feel the fresh dots on his forehead and how some other drops of pink paint are already drying on his cheeks and neck.

It’s an honorable battle until it ends with no winners.

“I don’t know about you but I totally won that,” Lance says under his breath a few long  _ long  _ minutes later, clearly avoiding his mama’s glare as his papa talks with Mrs. Honerva with Keith’s mom close behind.

Keith shrugs. “Whatever you say, Lance.” 

“Shove it, Green Moles.”

“Says Pink Freckles.”

“You’re jealous because they bring out my eyes,” Lance scoffs, rolling said blue eyes with his arms crossed, pointy looking away from Keith.

And he’s not meant to hear Keith’s words, not by the way they are murmured quietly under his breath as he walks away, going back to his family when Mrs. Kogane calls for him.

“Yeah, they do.”

Lance doesn’t know how to answer that.

So, he stays quiet. He doesn’t ask what Keith means by that or why is it said in a way like when his father tells his mom she’s pretty every morning even if she’s still half-asleep. Lance lets him walk away.

By the end of the summer, when he gets the news that Keith and his mom will move out to another state, somewhere closer to Shiro’s college, Lance wishes he could have remembered those words to ask Keith what they meant.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finaaaaaaaaal chapter!!! my gosh, I'm really happy you guys joined me o this and hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it!!! thank you!!

Keith’s three and he’s in love with the world.

It wasn’t hard to believe; everything was big, everything was colorful and new and  _ interesting _ . Keith wanted to see it all. He wanted to explore every corner of his backyard and every inch of his house.

His dada wouldn’t be far behind, always near him, always looking out for him. Keith made a game out of it, trying to find the best hiding spot somewhere in their backyard but somehow, his dada always managed to find him.

“No!” Keith shouts, happy and between giggles while his dada would nuzzle his spiky beard against his round cheeks. “Dada, no!”

It was their thing; to explore and learn about everything their backyard offered. More often than not, it would end with a dirty smiling Keith and an even dirtier sheepish dada whenever his momma will come back from work.

_ ‘The treasure was underground,’  _ his dada would say,  _ ‘it was a hidden treasure.’ _

And it had been! Keith found a lot of stuff that day; coins his dada wouldn't let him eat, some rocks he also couldn't lick, and some cool worms his dada had quickly shoved out of his tiny hand with a shout.

“Nope, nope,” his dada had shouted, panicked, making Keith giggle despite the loss of his new friends. “Those are dirty and  _ ugly _ , son, just - just put them back, yeah?”

And the words echoed inside his head, connecting the dots between words and actions before he beams with understanding.

After that, he would shout out ‘ugly’ to everything he found enchanting and colorful. Every single thing. Nothing was safe.

His momma’s funny marks on her cheeks, his dada’s spiky beard, his big brother’s nose. Everything was awesome, interesting, and  _ ugly _ .

Because that what his dad had called everything that Keith liked, after all. Like Mr. froggy, who would visit them every few nights, was called ‘ugly’ by his dada after Keith had gasped in awe at his high jump.

“Ugly!” Keith would shout gleefully whenever the small frog would jump from side to side. “Dada, ugly!”

And his dad would chuckle, low and warm as he held him close to his chest. “Yeah, buddy, ugly.”

So, it left him confused and oddly sad when the pretty baby with the big bright eyes, with a color that reminded him to his favorite juice after naptime, started crying and shoving him hard to get away from him.

The baby’s mama is nice to him, though, quickly making him feel less sad by rubbing his back the same way his own momma does whenever he’s upset.

When his dada comes, Keith feels safer but still sad. Because the baby boy with the juice eyes is looking at him the same way Shiro does whenever Keith grabs his black lion plushie.

Keith pouts, upset that he didn’t even get to hug the baby and even more so that said baby just keeps sticking his tongue out at him.

The toddler sticks his out back at him before he turns to hug his dada’s leg, feeling calmer when the adult picks him up and close him close.

Keith finds out later, thanks to his momma, that the correct word to express what he wanted to say was ‘pretty’. It’s an odd word.

 

 

* * *

 

Keith’s six and he watches in confusion as Lance runs away from him, his new crown almost falling from his head before he reaches his mom and hug her legs.

Keith can’t see his eyes from where he stands, no matter how much he tries. It’s sad, because Lance’s eyes are always pretty to look at.

“Kiddo, you okay?” he hears his dad ask behind him. Keith purses his lips, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he sinks into his dad’s arms.

“I told him he looked pretty,” Keith mumbles quietly, fingers still playing with each other nervously before lifting his right hand and pointing at where Lance currently hides, “but, um, he didn’t like that?”

He turns to look at his dad and his dad looks as confused as he feels.

His dad follows his pointing, catching the way Lance ducks again behind his mom’s legs before he smiles softly.

“Ah, I see,” his dad mumbles, now patting Keith in the back instead of doing circles. “That was nice of you, son.”

“But he didn’t like it,” Keith repeats with a small frown. “Maybe he doesn’t like me.”

“Oh, Keith,” his dad whispers quietly before hugging him, stroking the back of his head soothingly. “Nah, buddy, trust me on this; he likes you.”

Keith pouts but he still accepts the answer, because his dad never lies to him.

 

 

* * *

 

Keith’s not even ten before he loses his dad.

It’s a hard blow. Mom explains it to him early in the morning, eyes red and tired but her stare is strong and warm as she talks and holds both of his and Shiro’s hands.

“He loved you,” she had whispers, voice shaking dangerously as she rubs her thumbs on top of their hands tenderly. “He loved you both so,  _ so  _ much.”

Keith hadn't noticed when he started crying before Shiro was hugging him and his mom wrapped them both in her arms.

The day of the funeral is bright and hot. Keith sweats through his suit and wonders, for a brief moment, if his papa had felt as hot when he had run back to the house on fire.

He hopes not.

Keith stays close to Shiro, not locking eyes with none of the guests that crowds his living room. He doesn't want to talk, he doesn’t want to do  _ anything _ .

He misses the last few weeks of school and the start of summer. Keith doesn’t mind, finding comfort in his mom’s arms and his brother’s games aiming to distract him.

But Cosmo had changed that from the moment Keith heard him cry on the alley near his karate class. Keith found him alone, dirty and with a few fleas.

But Keith hadn't cared.

And Cosmo gets to stay. But he doesn't stay  _ still _ .

Even less so when Keith joins Lance on a trip to his grandparents’ farm and they have to chase down him all over the field as the puppy chased the hens behind the house.

They ended up muddy, full of feathers, and Keith couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so hard since his dad died.

 

 

* * *

 

At thirteen, he didn’t have a lot of experience in the baby field.

But somehow, his baby cousin managed to stay alive so far while Keith was watching him.

‘Watching him’ is what Keith calls letting Kuro run around while he painted on his cousin’s assigned canvas. It was fine, as long as he could still hear Kuro’s cooing and squeals near him.

But then Lance and two more toddlers joined the party. Which was fine, totally fine, Lance has a tendency to annoy him but somehow still making him smile and laugh.

Which, again, is kind of annoying how easily Lance can do things to him but Keith doesn’t really fight it. He thrives on their stupid competitions.

And this one took a turn, because this time, it wasn’t neither of them who started the war.

Keith saw it a mile away and he still wasn’t able to stop it.

He had seen the way Kuro grabbed the brushed dripping heavily with pink paint at some point, holding it tight with his entire hand before he raised his tiny hand and Keith knew.

He tired to stop it, to take the brush from the toddler and avoid any embarrassing scenes but the toddler fought bravely and Keith had  _ actually  _ struggled to take the brush from him.

But once he did, he didn’t notice until it was to late that the move had been too harsh, too abrupt, making it rain with pink paint for a brief second and then, suddenly, he had an angry Lance glaring at him.

Keith ends up with his face full of green dots.

Kuro walks away clean.

 

 

* * *

 

He’s still thirteen when they move.

“It’s for the best,” his mom had said, talking about how good the new job was and how it was closer to Shiro’s college and it was a good opportunity for them to stay together and for her not to have as many business trips.

It’s okay. Keith liked it. He got to see his family more.

But he was still sad. Because he was leaving --

He was just sad.

The McClains did a surprise farewell party for his mom and him. Their backyard had been full of food despite the small gathering of people.

_ ‘Just close friends,’  _ Lance’s mama had reassuranced at the door as she welcomed them both.  _ ‘Keith, sweetheart, Lance even has a surprise for you.’ _

It’s a surprise Lance doesn’t lets him see, not until he has beaten him in whatever silly competition the brunet kept coming up with.

Who could jump the highest. Who could climb on the tree first. Who could climb on  _ Hunk  _ first. Who could outrun Pidge and her warth from making her partner in lab a mountain against his will.

Keith and then Lance. Lance and then Keith. Neck to neck. First place and then second place. Neither could hold either title for long before they would be dethroned.

Keith’s having  _ fun _ ; he’s smiling, laughing, joking.

But it ends too soon and Keith has to go through the worst part.

Saying goodbye is something he’s not used to. He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to his dad so the fact that this time Keith is aware that his friends are staying behind and there’s nothing he can do about it makes him wanna cry.

But he doesn’t. Hunk does and so does Pidge.

Even Lance does as he holds out a small envelope and hugs him tight.

Keith doesn’t cry; at least not until he’s inside his mom’s truck and he doesn’t let her drive until she wraps around his wrist the bracelet made of threads that falls from Lance’s envelope.

 

 

* * *

 

“Keith Kogane, huh?”

He’s signing the left corner at the end of the application form before the words are spoken behind him. It makes him confused, since classes are yet to start and he even skipped Orientation last week.

No one should know him and yet the person behind him does.

Keith barely notices when the guy behind the table looks between him and the person behind him before shrugging and helping someone else on the other side of the tent. 

Instead, Keith’s eyes settle on the guy in front of him; tall with a green jacket that hugs his shoulders while his hands are shoved deep into its pockets. 

_ ‘Familiar _ ’ is one of the ways Keith would describe him with those blue eyes and brown skin.  _ ‘Gorgeous’ _ is another way to describe those lips and freckles.

“Who’s asking?” he asks carefully, arching an eyebrow at the familiar stranger. The question seems to dim the light in those blue eyes and Keith almost feels guilty if it wasn’t for the fact that the brunet bounces back quickly.

“Man, five years is all it took for you to forget me?” He clicks his tongue, shaking his head for dramatics before he flashes him a smile. “Lance McClain from Ocean’s Street?”

Ah, Lance McClain. Lance ‘Pink Freckles’ McClain.

His rival and, most importantly, best friend from childhood. No, Keith hasn’t forgotten him in the slightest, if the bracelet wrapped around his wrist is anything to go by, but ‘recognizing’ is an entire different concept.

Because the Lance he remembers is lanky and thin, with big round eyes that had the sky reflected on them on a clear day and a nose that was small with round cheeks on the side. Because Lance was shorter than him by  _ two  _ inches and hair was a dark brown.

But the Lance he remembers also went through puberty, probably, after he left. Lance, much like Keith, changed through the years and it’s hard to believe the boy he crushed on before he even knew its meaning is now standing before him once again.

Keith still just hums back at him, scratching the edge of his jaw as he looks Lance from head to toe. His lips twitch playfully at the way Lance shifts under his gaze.

He has forgotten how fun it was to mess with him.

“ _ ‘Hmm’ _ is all I get?” Lance scoffs, pout still the same as before and the sight of it makes Keith’s insides to melt with nostalgia.

Keith blinks innocently back at him.

“You’re messing with me,” Lance starts, narrowing his eyes in suspicion and Keith fights his own smile when he sees Lance’s lips twitching upward, “so, how much of an idiot would I look like if I hug you right now because you look and have the same name as a friend of mine from my childhood?” 

“Depends on whenever I’m really your friend or just a stranger look alike,” Keith replies slowly, cocking his head to the side, heart drumming inside him as he plays oblivious. “Am I?”

“Are you?” Lance throws back.

Keith’s no longer able to fight against himself and his grin seems to be answer enough before Lance’s laughing and throwing his arms around him.

“I knew it had to be you!” Lance shouts once he pulls away, face now close enough for Keith to see the old and new freckles on his face. He wonders how many of there are under the sun during summer. “I would recognize that mullet  _ anywhere _ .”

Keith scoffs at the jab but it’s physically impossible to hold back his smile. “And the fact that you read my name over my shoulder means nothing.”

Lance’s grin turns cheeky. ”Duh, of course not,” he says smugly, adding a wink at the end of his words that only makes Keith to roll his eyes.

But it’s fond. It’s so fond because this is still the Lance he remembers and Keith feels like thirteen all over again.

Keith laughs. “Good to see you man.”

“‘It’s good to see you’ he says after pretending to forget me,” Lance snorts but his smile is happy and his shoulders are loose. Same old Lance. “You’re lucky I missed you.”

Calm down, heart. “I’m not the only lucky one here,” he says softly, fingers running through his hair and he hopes Lance doesn’t recognize the action as his old nervous tic.

He doesn’t, but only because something else catches his eyes.

“Hah, hey,” Lance breathes out, smile turning soft at the sight of the bracelet around Keith’s wrist. “Nice bracelet; those knots? Top notch. ”

Keith blinks, eyes falling on the bracelet itself before he grins. “Oh, this old thing? Yeah, there was this kid back in my childhood neighbourhood who made it for me.”

Lance whistles, hands shoved into his jeans pockets. “You must have meant a lot to that kid, huh? Not everyone gets one of those.”

Keith snorts, nodding as he agrees wordlessly. “I think so, yeah; he was loud and really wouldn't shut up but he was  _ kind of _ fun.”

“Sounds like a cool kid,” Lance hums, wiggling his eyebrows playfully back at him and Keith laughs good-heartedly.

“Yeah,” Keith says quietly, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he holds Lance’s gaze. “Yeah, he was my best friend.”

If possible, Lance’s gaze softens and Keith hopes he won’t have to let go of this boy all over again.

“Hey, so, uh, you are signing up for the contest?” Lance says then, finger pointing at the tent behind him.

Keith follows his pointing, catching once again the several posters that had caught his eye half an hour ago. He sees more people walking closer to the tent, talking among themselves as they sign in application forms and some others talk with the volunteers about the chosen charity.

“Ah, yeah, I am,” Keith says, happy to notice that there’s more activity than when he had arrived. 

The contest is a basic talent show of the sorts, offering the students to do what they know and love in a way to help raise money and donating it to one of the many animal shelters near downtown.

He hadn't really meant to apply but something had draw him in. Maybe it was because it was charity focused and animals were involved. Maybe it was because of nostalgia, the several contests back from his childhood making him feel warm and happy.

It’s both surprising and pleasant to find out he wasn’t the only one.

“Are you?” Keith asks, eyes falling back on Lance and hums when the brunet nods, excited.

“I never really outgrew these kind of contests,” Lance says nonchalantly but his voice is kind and gentle, filled with memories from the past. “After you moved away I only did one more contest before I declared I was ‘too big’ to be a contestant.”

“Did you turn into a full-time babysitter?” Keith teases, nuding the brunet on the ribs.

Lance laugh, dryly as he shoves Keith by the shoulder. “Yes and no, mullet; I decided to volunteer! Allura was the one who told me to and since I was head over heels for her back then, I said yes and ended up liking it.”

“You had a crush on Allura?” Keith splutters, blinking stunned. He’s unable to hold the grin from his face when Lance blushes hard.

“Hey, I was fourteen and she was pretty,” Lance mumbles. “I had a crush on Shiro too if it makes you feel better.”

_ ‘Yes and no,’  _ Keith thinks before he shakes his head with a laugh. “It doesn’t! Oh my god!”

“I was a poor bi boy in a big world fill with gorgeous people, sue me!” Lance shouts, arms thrown in the air and face just turning more red. It only makes Lance’s brown skin to look darker.

It’s a lovely sight.

“Oh, yeah, laugh it up, Kogane!” Lance scoffs, glaring at Keith as he continues to shake with quiet snickers but his blue eyes are playful and joyful. That’s all Keith needs to see to know he’s not messing it up. “I mean, it’s not like you didn’t have a crush on someone in the neighbourhood.”

“I did,” Keith agrees, snickers finally allowing him to speak. He shakes his head as soon as Lance opens his mouth. “Not telling.”

“Man, you’re no fun!” Lance whines and it only makes Keith smile wider.

And it’s weird, how it’s been five years since they saw each other and yet it feels like they’ve never been apart. College now seems a lot less scary with Lance by his side;  _ the future _ looks less scary, less intimidating.

Because Lance makes it look like a game, every day being a new adventure. 

Keith can’t let him go again.

“Do you know what you’re gonna do for the contest?” Keith asks, tilting his head to the side. Lance hums as he shakes his head.

“Not yet,” he says out loud, hand on his hip as he arches an eyebrow at Keith. “Please don’t tell me you’re planning to do your knife trick.”

Keith shrugs. “Okay, I won’t tell you.”

“Oh my god, Keith.”

“No, I’m kidding,” Keith chuckles, waving his hand at Lance’s expression. “I already asked; no sharp objects allowed.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Lance snorts, rolling his eyes but nods gratefully when Keith passes him a blank application form.

They stand side by side and Keith’s a breath away from adding the final touches to his own application before he notices that Lance’s form is still blank and the brunet doesn’t seem to be making any attempt to fill it.

Keith frowns with curiosity at that until Lance puts the pen down and meets his eyes.

“You know, the contest can be done in pairs,” Lance starts quietly, bumping his hip against Keith and earning a small snicker as prize. “What do you say, Mullet? Up for a challenge?”

Choosing is not even a contest when Lance is involved.

“With you as my partner?” Keith asks while holding up his own pen to Lance and flashing him a confident grin. “They don’t stand a chance.”

Keith makes it his own goal to win, because if they do, he will ask Lance out. No excuses, no delays. He will ask him out on the spot, with sweat running down their face and breathing between their laughter, Keith will ask him out.

And later - much, much later - when their first kiss is shared and quiet confessions are mouthed against each other’s lips, Lance’s confession will go beyond what Keith expects and he will find out that the goal he had set himself to that very same day was the same one Lance set for himself.

And for once, Lance was okay to be beat to it by Keith.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> Here’s my tumblr, just in case: [bleusarcelle](http://bleusarcelle.tumblr.com)  
> AND my writing tumblr for small drabbles I don't post here: [bleusarcellewrites](http://bleusarcellewrites.tumblr.com)


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